Readers will need to mind the gap between this book’s premise and what it actually delivers.
Handy’s latest picture book explores what might happen should different parts of our world suddenly be erased.
“What if one day…all the birds flew away?” Or if “all the water disappeared?” How about if there were no plants or colors or people? This text gets readers thinking about aspects of our world that can easily be taken for granted. It offers some gentle consequences, like worms relaxing in birds’ absence, before pivoting to ask readers to imagine what might be missing one day “because it hadn’t been dreamt of yet.” The well-intended attempt at encouraging readers’ thoughtfulness is undermined by some oversights. Namely, for many readers, such as those who live in areas threatened by climate change and deforestation or without access to clean water, these are not what-if scenarios; they are current or looming realities that are dismissed each time Handy insists “but there is water” or “but there are birds.” The book’s conceit—calling upon children to use their imaginations to envision how the world might look—is promising, but instead of empowering readers to create meaning for themselves, the text gets more muddled the closer they look. Depicting racially diverse characters, Corrin’s full, vibrant spreads convey movement and stillness, humor and pensiveness, hitting just the right visual tones, but the writing doesn’t quite manage to live up to the artwork.
Readers will need to mind the gap between this book’s premise and what it actually delivers. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781592703838
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated.
Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault’s classic alphabet book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) gets the Halloween treatment.
Chung follows the original formula to the letter. In alphabetical order, each letter climbs to the top of a tree. They are knocked back to the ground in a jumble before climbing up in sequence again. In homage to the spooky holiday theme, they scale a “creaky old tree,” and a ghostly jump scare causes the pileup. The chunky, colorful art is instantly recognizable. The charmingly costumed letters (“H swings a tail. / I wears a patch. J and K don / bows that don’t match”) are set against a dark backdrop, framed by pages with orange or purple borders. The spreads feature spiderwebs and jack-o’-lanterns. The familiar rhyme cadence is marred by the occasional clunky or awkward phrase; in particular, the adapted refrain of “Chicka chicka tricka treat” offers tongue-twisting fun, but it’s repeatedly followed by the disappointing half-rhyme “Everybody sneaka sneak.” Even this odd construction feels shoehorned into place, since “sneaking” makes little sense when every character in the book is climbing together. The final line of the book ends on a more satisfying note, with “Everybody—time to eat!”
A bit predictable but pleasantly illustrated. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781665954785
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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